It’s the most wonderful time of the year! As Catherine mentioned last week, July is one of our favourite months to live in Ottawa, partly thanks to RBC Bluesfest, Otawa’s biggest music event of the year. We’ve been partaking in this festival for years and this time around will be no exception. The thing about Bluesfest is that there is something for everyone; every type of music is represented and all within a few minute walk. In the past, we’ve given you advice on how to make the most of your Bluesfest experience and today, we’re here to build on that, with some help from our trusty smartphones. Read on for the top apps to download before heading to Bluesfest.
Duh. This app is specifically designed to take you through the festival and make sure that you know what’s what. It includes a map of all the stages and vendors, the line up and schedule, information on all of the artists and descriptions of all of the food and beverage vendors (yum). You can link your Facebook and Twitter accounts to the app to share information on the shows you’re attending with your network and even set up reminders in your calendar. These will be super helpful when you’re caught up in the moment and forget that you have to book it to another stage for the next app.
2. Twitter
Stay connected! If you’re not already on Twitter, now would be a really great time to sign up and follow @ottawabluesfest…and since you’re going to be on there, why not give @inanutshellca a quick follow as well! Not only is Twitter a great way to hear the opinions of other festival-goers, it’s also the best place to get information. Are the lines insane? Someone will tweet their complaints. Is a band putting on the performance of a lifetime? You can bet someone is tweeting about it (maybe with pictures and videos). And, most importantly, festival organizers will take to Twitter to let you know about important information. Last year, there was torrential rain the night that Queens of the Stone Age, Foreigner and Styxx played. As we were standing around soaked and unsure of what to do, I checked Twitter and got constant updates from the organizers. Before the main screens projected the information, I had it in the palm of my hand.
3. Shazam
This is a music festival, so you’re definitely going to want a music-identifier at your disposal. The best thing about Bluesfest is that you will ultimately discover new music that you love. You’ll likely see more than one band that you’ve never heard of before. While the RBC Bluesfest app will tell you who’s playing on each stage during each time slot, Shazam can help you figure out exactly what song is playing. So when one song strikes a chord with you, whip out your phone, fire up Shazam and either save the info for later or download the track immediately to your music library.
4. Transit App
With so many people attending the festival, walking or taking public transit is likely a better option than trying to drive yourself to the festival, deal with traffic and find a parking spot (which are few and far between). That said, don’t spend your time wandering aimlessly looking for a way there or home. The transit app is linked with OC Transpo and uses the current bus schedules and GPS to tell you exactly when busses will be arriving near your location. If a bus is delayed, you’ll know it and you can see what other options are available. If you use Uber, the app also lets you know how close the nearest car is.
Available to all iPhone users, the Find My Friends app is a GREAT thing to have handy when you’re at any major event. This app links with your contacts and map and displays exactly where your friends are at. This will be especially useful at the end of the night when the entire crowd leaves the festival at the same time. We always try to abide by the buddy system rule, but just in case you get separated from your crew, you can find out where your friends decided to take the party after the show is over. If you’re worried that your friends will always know your location – don’t fret. The app lets you play by your own rules and establish how long you want to share your location, whether it be for a couple of hours, a few weeks or all the time.
6. WaterIn
We are not about to complain about the sun or heat that comes hand in hand with July in Ottawa. Besides, half the fun of Bluesfest is taking in the music with a cold beer in hand… BUT it can also be a recipe for disaster. The old saying, “mix in a water” always rings true. If you’re planning to spend the day in the sun, you should always have a bottle of water on hand because there is nothing fun about dehydration or heat stroke. Water In is a simple app that lets you set up a goal for your water intake for the day and sends you notiications when it’s time to chug back some H2O.
There would be nothing worse than providing you a list full of apps that you can’t use because your phone dies. When you plan to hit up Bluesfest for the long haul, there’s a good chance that your phone’s battery life will take a beating. Battery Doctor translates the percentage of battery life into numbers that make sense: how long you should have left and what apps are taking up the most of your battery. It gives you options of things you can turn off to preserve battery life until you get to a charging station. Just keep in mind that some options may include data, which would render your other apps useless.
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